Matt Serra Doesn’t Think BJ Penn Needs to Retire From MMA

Former UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra is not someone who thinks that UFC Hall of Famer BJ Penn needs to retire from MMA.

Penn is on a seven-fight losing streak. As a result, he holds the longest winless streak in UFC history.

He lost by decision to Clay Guida at the UFC 237 pay-per-view event. This show took place on May 11, 2019 at Arena da Baixada in Curitiba, Brazil. Before this, he suffered a submission loss to Ryan Hall at UFC 232. While fighting at featherweight, he was TKO’d by Frankie Edgar and Yair Rodriguez before losing a majority decision to Dennis Siver in June 2017.

Despite him being past his prime, Serra has come to the defense of Penn, who many people think should retire for good from the sport of MMA.

The former UFC fighter made it known on the UFC Unfiltered podcast that can sympathize with Penn at this stage of his career but doesn’t think that he should retire because that’s the belief of other people.

“Dude, let me tell you, I’m 44. I fought him when I was 28. The guy has been around, man,” Serra said. “The guy has been around. It’s not about money either with B.J. I just think that guys do this for so long when it comes down to what’s next . . . it’s just what you’re used to. It’s like a routine. It felt weird when I stopped. Like, ‘Oh I don’t have a fight coming up, even after a few months? Now what the f*ck is going on?’”

“I don’t know. It’s not like what’s happening to Rashad Evans or somebody like Chuck Liddell where you’re like, ‘Man, I don’t want to see him get hurt anymore,’” Serra said. “I don’t know. I’ve known B.J. for so long, I love the dude, he’s a really good person. . . The guy’s a legend. He can do whatever he wants. I wish him best. I don’t want to, I’m not sitting here saying he should retire. It’s not like he is getting destroyed, and it looked like he was having a great time, as far as leading up to it. . . And he did look good in the beginning, you know!”